Hi Everybody, hope all is well with you in a seriously troubled world. It is a seriously troubled world isn't it? I just don't watch the 10 o clock news anymore because I don't want to take all that negative energy to bed with me. That's not turning my back on it. I just prefer to hear it next morning when I've done an hours daimoku so I'm re-energised to cope with it. And the other change I've made is to search out things in my own environment where I can make a really positive contribution to ease distress or suffering, rather than simply focusing on all those horrors so far away about which I can do nothing except chant in sympathy. One of those activities has turned out to be really rewarding; I take a hot drink and a hotwater bottle every night to someone who has chosen to cope with disharmony in his family by sleeping rough, as a symbol of his distress. And we talk briefly about Buddhism. It helps to alleviate the grief over Syria.
Right back to the blog, and we're in the middle of Chapter 11, with some interesting stuff on Buddhism and money. Well, I hope it's interesting! And we've come to a sub heading which is...
A sense of balance
So where do we draw the line between what makes sense for our lives and what doesn't? The key thing Buddhism argues, is working to maintain that sense of balance we mentioned earlier, between the spiritual and the material. The middle way you might say. Not getting swept away by overly strong currents in either direction, because both can cause reall suffering.
So that means not being overly spiritual, doing too many Buddhist activities for example and so neglecting the genuine material needs for ourselves and those around us. Just giving quality time to a partner and children for example is a crucial material need, among many others.
Conversely, real trouble can arise, Buddhism argues, when the hunger for more money, more stuff, more material goods, becomes a dominant or even overwhelming life condition.
We may not see it that way of course, because we are inside the desire. It is us. Or we may not see it early enough, because these things tend to creep up on us. We may regard it as simply ambition, or the desire to get more out of life. But when the drive for yet more wealth, yet more material possessions becomes the overriding motivational force in our lives, the thing we get most pleasure out of, and we find ourselves increasingly drawn in that direction, with decreasing time and space allocated to meaning in our lives, or our values, or doing stuff for other people, then Buddhism argues, we've probably lost the plot. We're way out of balance. And the effects of that imbalance can flow into all the other areas of our life, almost without our being aware of it.
In fact Buddhism uses language very similar to that in the scientific article that we touched upon a moment ago. It describes greed, because let's face it, that's really what we're talking about here, as a poison, or an addiction in our system, that can infect all the dimensions of our life, and be the source of deep, life-changing pain and suffering.
Witness the story of the bankrupt businessman that I recounted briefly above. And there are of course many such stories. '
Well that's it for today.
See you next time I hope. Because I'm in the middle of another writing task I'm only putting out one blog a week rather than the two I used to., but I have to say I really enjoy doing it. I hope you can say the same thing about reading it!!
My best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon as a paperback, and on Kindle as a download. And it is even now being translated into Spanish, which I see as a great honour.
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